The Third Altean
by Anubis321
Summary: Turns out that ten thousand years tends to cause some malfunctions, such as when the Alteans should wake up in the Castle of Lions. Allura and the Paladins find Claire, her childhood friend after they defeat Sendak's fleet. Together they fight to defeat Zarkon and end his tyrannical reign of the Galaxy.


_The screen was fuzzy and muffled bangs came from the other side of the tablet's screen. A few moments later the resolution cleared and the muffled sound stopped. A tired voice said something softly. A gentle tapping echoed through the speakers until it finally became clear. "Audio is being recorded in real time and the resolution is clear. Perfect," a feminine voice said._

 _Allura bit her lip as she watched the video. She sat alone in her room. Her white hair was down and she wore her nightgown. Insomnia and tears decorated her solemn blue eyes. Her grip on the little tablet tightened as someone appeared to sit on a bed in front of the screen. She recognized the bed as one of the many that were in the bedchambers that the paladins slept in._

 _A female Altean with dark brown hair sat in front of the screen. She had lavender eyes with a hue of blue and matching Altean markings under her eyes. The girl wore a black tank top and hugged her shoulders where dark purple Galra markings were slashed across them. The girl quickly tied her messy hair into a quick ponytail and looked at the screen awkwardly. She cleared her throat, "Hi, this is my first vlog that isn't about the mission. Not entirely. It's a message."_

 _Allura held back a sob._

" _I am Claire, I infiltrated the Galra Empire for King Alfor to sabotage and gain information. It wasn't enough...the Galra they destroyed Altea," her voice faltered._

 _Allura felt a tear race down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly._

" _Allura, I assume this is you…" Claire stared into the camera, her eyes became misty with tears, "If you are watching this, then it means that I am dead."_

* * *

Pidge looked around the bridge in awe. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the palace's control stations in more detail. "This technology is so advanced!" she sighed contently. "A few wipes and this can all be shiny as new!" She rubbed the control console.

Coran gently slapped her hand, startling her, "Hey don't touch that! That's the self-destruction mechanism!" Coran pulled at his thick mustache, "Press that and in ten ticks we will all be blasted off of this planet!"

Pidge rubbed her hand as if it hurt and backed away in fear. "Got it, no touchy…"

"Yet," Lance added. Pidge sighed and adjusted her glasses as the new paladins and Altean Princess entered. Lance gave Allura a flirtatious wink, earning him a scoff of disgust. Keith sighed and crossed his arms, deciding to stand by the door and away from everyone. "Those Galra idiots don't even know what hit em!" Lance exclaimed.

"Yeah! And like it was totally cool yet freaky that we became a big giant kitty robot," Hunk said. He took a bite of his food, gooey crumbs on his chin. "And this food goo is weird and all...but I can get use to it…" His stomach rumbled and he patted it gently, "I think…"

"For now you paladins should rest. Tomorrow we can begin training so that your bonds with your lions and each other become stronger," Allura announced. "Besides, Coran and I have to see the Castle's condition. It has been over ten thousand years. We need to ensure that the Castle is functioning properly so we can stop Zarkon."

"Makes sense, still it's in pretty good condition. Not even the pyramids in Egypt looked as good as this and they've been around for only five thousand years," Pidge said. She twirled around, taking in her surroundings.

"Wait I thought that they were built like a billion years ago," Lance exclaimed.

"No, five thousand roughly," Pidge shrugged.

"This is what you get for sleeping through history class," Hunk said.

"At least I didn't drop out," Lance emphasized with a glare to Keith.

Keith clenched his fists and glared at the blue paladin. "Why am I being brought into this?!"

Shiro stepped in the middle of the room and said in an orderly tone that only the Garrison taught, "Alright enough you two! You all heard Allura. We need to get settled in our current headquarters. Saving the galaxy is not going to be a walk in the park." He looked to Lance and Keith, in a sharper tone he continued, "And turning on each other is not only a waste of time but it will put the galaxy in danger. We're a team now. We have to stick together."

"Thanks Shiro," Allura smiled and gave him an approving nod. She turned to Coran with her hands cupped in front of her. "Coran, I will show everyone their sleeping chambers. Then I will come to help you."

Coran shook his head as he began fiddling with the main console, "No Princess, you should rest."

Allura giggled softly, if a bit bitter, "I have been asleep for ten thousand years. I don't think I need more rest."

"Hey uh...sorry to interrupt everything and I would love to run around the castle but...what is this blinking thing?" Pidge gestured to a holographic screen to the side. Allura approached and stared at the blue screen to find eight circles. All were greyed out except for one that was yellow and blinking. Allura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Those are the sleeping pods, all seem to be empty except for this one," Allura said softly. She gasped and turned to Coran, hope sparkling in her eyes, "Coran! There may be another Altean in the Castle!"

"A pod in use? I wonder why it didn't open like it did for you and I!" Coran said in shock. He ran over to the screen. Allura and Coran shared a look. "We need to go wake them!" They both ran out of the bridge. Pidge and the others trailed behind them.

Their excitement turned them into a huffing mess the moment they reached the sleeping pod chamber. Allura stood in the center, looking at the recently opened pods. She searched the ground at the other doors. "Coran please we need to open these pods!"

Coran jumped to a pillar and opened a control panel. "I am on it Princess!" He began fiddling with the controls. "Quiznack! Everything is lethargic!"

The paladins made it to the room, all breathing hard. Shiro was the first to recover quickly and walked to Allura. "Another one of your people survived?"

"Perhaps," Allura said. Her voice laced with fear and hope. "Coran! What's taking so long?!"

"Just a tick Princess!"

Lance stood next to Allura while the others looked at the pod doors. "Do you know this person?"

"I don't who it could be. Unless my father...what if its my father!?" Allura gasped. She clutched her chest, tears threatened to race down her cheeks. She shook her head in denial, "No...It would not because my father would not use these pods for himself."

Lance's expression faltered. Shiro placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, "It will be okay Princess. Someone at least survived."

"You are too kind Shiro," Allura replied. She shuffled her weight between her feet before marching to Coran in anticipation. "What's taking so long?!"

"There!" Coran yelled. All the extra pods rose up. All but one opened to reveal empty compartments.

"Hey, it is an Altean!" Lance exclaimed. The Altean had light skin with sharply pointed markings under her closed eyes. "I think its a girl!" The newcomer leaned against the pod. Her long brown hair messily stuck out everywhere. Unlike Allura, she wore black cargo pants and a grey tank top with a dark purple jacket.

"He's making it sound like a baby is being born," Keith muttered.

"Kinda is, but in a caterpillar way," Hunk said.

"Lance give her some space," Shiro ordered.

Lance took a step forward instead and said with a flirty tone, "Hey Sleeping Beauty." The Altean slowly woke up to reveal lavender eyes. She blinked a few times in confusion. "I'm Lance, the blue pala-"

An instant later, the Altean had Lance pinned to the ground with a high kick to the chin. She stood with one foot above Lance's throat. She pulled out a laser gun from the holster that was revealed to be her belt and pointed the weapon at Shiro. "Explain yourselves, or lover boy stops breathing."

"Dang," Hunk gasped in awe and fear.

"Claire?" Allura exclaimed.

The Altean's cold glare softened as Allura came into her view. She lowered her weapon. "Allura you're okay!"

"I'm not!" Lance whimpered.

"These are the new paladins of Voltron," Allura explained briefly.

Claire twirled her gun and returned it to it's holster before stepping off of Lance. "Sorry about that!" she apologized in a sweet voice. She held out her hand to him.

Lance rubbed his chin and took the hand. He allowed himself to be pulled up. Claire stumbled and used the used pod near her for support. Allura ran to Claire and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Thank goodness you are alive," she whispered. Her grip tightened as Claire returned the embrace. "There was malfunction with the sleeping pods. So for some reason only Coran and I woke up, not you."

"Haha, I blame the explosions," Claire replied. The two Alteans pulled apart as Coran approached.

"Thank King Alfor!" Coran declared. "You survived!"

Claire nodded with a gentle smile. "I barely made it though."

"I have so many questions now," Allura said. Her expression hardened with concern. "Since when did you have a gun? And I didn't see you on the bridge when Zarkon was invading and my father put me to sleep. I have never seen you like this. Like a soldier." She looked Claire up and down. The shorter Altean bit her lip. Claire's smile faltered. She avoided looking Allura in the eyes.

Coran intervened, "Claire was a spy for King Alfor during the war. The few who knew, including myself, kept it from you."

Allura shook her head in disbelief, "Why? You are practically my sister. We told each other everything. At least, I did."

Claire visibly shrunk and hugged her shoulders, "King Alfor and I wanted you to have a childhood. Your family took me in and I wanted to repay you. So I trained and infiltrated Galra ships for information and sabotage missions. We-" her voice faded and she cleared her throat, "-I wanted you to not worry or be upset when I went on my missions. So I kept it from you, as did your father."

Allura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them she tackled Claire in another hug. "Doesn't matter anymore, my relief is greater than my anger. At least you're alive and we are together," Allura said gratefully. "Sisters forever?"

"Sisters forever," Claire smiled with a gentle giggle.

"Aw! So sweet!" Hunk said and took a bite of his food goo.

Claire looked at the humans and raised an eyebrow to Allura. They pulled back again and Allura gestured to the humans. "Paladins this is Claire, my childhood friend...And Claire these are the new paladins of Voltron."

"Nice to meet you, you knocked out Lance," Pidge smirked.

"It was a weak kick. I think the shock knocked him down," Claire said.

Lance clutched his chin and pouted. "Yeah I guess it doesn't hurt that bad," he mumbled.

"It is an honor to meet you all, but one look and I see you all need training. Especially Sleeping Beauty here," Claire looked to Lance. The other pouted. She clasped her hands, "Now! Where shall we begin!?"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _ **Whooh! Claire is my OC**_ ** _for the show, not a self-insert, she is nothing like me. I am going to follow the show, but I don't want to just write the script for every episode, just the moments where Claire is there and where it matters! I will imply what episode it is._**

 ** _I have more information on her on Amino! It is a wonderful app! Super fun! It is also where I post my fanart and stuff about the show!_**

 ** _Leave me a like, comment or follow! I love the feedback and it honestly encourages me!_**


End file.
